photo credit: theresaunfried
If there is one thing that proves to be the greatest challenge of every actor, it is the task of convincing the audience using a believable character. It is not the memorizing of the script that daunts most actors and actresses, as anyone can readily memorize lines and use costumes and other props o bring their characters to life. The real test of great acting skills is the ability to bring about the character of the story, from the inside out.
When you come to think of it, acting is practically the skill of “being someone else”. However, if all actors can personify another individual, fictional or real, how then can you tell if an actor is highly talented or not? What then makes a good actor?
An actor can only be considered highly skilled and talented if he or she is able to fulfill the three basic rules of creating a character on-screen:
- Commitment to your co-actors and to the story.
Commitment in acting is not about being committed to your work, as anyone who likes to act can easily engage himself or herself into the task at hand. Commitment means being able to commit to your fellow actors and to the subject matter in general. If you are willing to take that extra mile to improve and fully grasp the very core of your character, then you become a great actor.
- Draw out your character from real people.
If you have read stories of famous actors and actresses before, you will find out that most great actors of our time have spent time observing other people. In fact, some actors base an entire character on a particular individual or base a part of a character by gathering several aspects from several people’s characters.
One relevant example is what Daniel Day-Lewis did on his Oscar-winning turn for “There Will Be Blood”. Although his character had already been created as a fictional one, based on the novel that the story was adapted from, Lewis wanted to do a twist to the character’s personality – he wanted to create a different manner of speaking that would stand out. So he imitated the speech pattern of the late, John Huston, making the character of Daniel Plainview beyond what it was written in the script.
- Find a personal feature that is similar to the character.
The only way to create a convincing character is to combine a character model and a few aspects of your self. Although this can be a little challenging, most great actors tend to find a certain commonality between themselves and their character and create a connection with the two.
Keep in mind that not all people are blessed with the skill to act, let alone the luxury to attend drama classes or witnessing great actors embody a character right before their eyes. So next time you are at the cinema, try to take note of the really great actors and notice how they do their craft.
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